Cross the Distance
by shadriver
Summary: <html><head></head>Takuya finds himself on an Earth different, yet eerily similar, to his own and must fit in with the DigiDestined until he can find a way back. Things get stranger, however, as certain digimon appear to recognize him as the Legendary Warrior of Fire and he learns that the consequences of his rash actions, that led him there in the first place, have long since doomed many. 02X04</html>
1. The Boy in the Water

_Hello everyone! Um, I'm not actually sure what to say here for right now. This is, personally, one of my favorite crack ships for one reason or another and I just got a really strong inspiration to write a story about it. So we'll see how that goes._  
><em>This is also posted up on my Archive of our Own account if you prefer there, that 'view all' option is pretty tempting. <em>

_Oh and there are some timeline differences for pretty much every series involved._  
><em>Frontier takes place in 1995, so around the time Tai and Kari first encounter Digimon, while Adventure takes place a year later, so in the year 2000. Which, of course, means Adventure 02 takes place in 2003.<em>

_/Execute: _Opening Phase: 「New World」

**Chapter 1:** Boy in the Water

To be honest, Takuya didn't know he would return to the Digital World someday. He was sure some of his friends did, Koji being the first one to come to mind, but he truthfully thought that he was done. It wasn't that he didn't want to go back, mind you; he just thought he was done with the whole saving the world business. So it's kind of funny how things turned out. Here he was, back in business. What was that phrase Lady Ophanimon told them when they first returned? Oh right.

_The destinies of the Chosen Ones are forever intertwined with the Digital World._

And with that being said, it was definitely a possibility for their destinies to end in the Digital World, which had almost happened to Koichi during their first adventure. Even then, Takuya had high hopes that they'd pull out a miracle over Lucemon and they did. But this time this time Takuya wasn't sure that even a miracle would help here. Right now, he wasn't Takuya but EmperorGreymon, the Zeta Warrior of Fire. He looked over to his partner, MagnaGarurumon, then over to his fellow Chosen Ones.

"MagnaGarurumon, this isn't working." He spoke. The two floated above the ground, staring down a Megidramon. He had appeared in the Digital World a while ago, in a great burst of power. The Legendary Warriors fought against it but the unthinkable happened, they were defeated. The Warriors had actually _lost_ strength when they separated from the kids four years ago, humans apparently had a great reservoir of untapped energy for Digimon. Upon figuring this out, the Celestial Digimon were quick to contact, beg and arrange for the Chosen Ones to return to the Digital World to deal with this monster. Of course they accepted; the Digital World was a second home to them and there was no way they could leave the it to suffer. They just didn t think the beast would be this strong. EmperorGreymon tightened his grip on Ryugonken.

"Yeah, I can tell." The Warrior of Light sighed. He had long since abandoned his armor, speed being more important in this situation. "Do you have another plan?"

"Yeah... No, I'm working on one."

"You should hurry; I m surprised he s waiting for us as long as he has."

"Right. Okay, this is a little risky but get your weapons back on. I ll distract him til then; we re hitting him with everything we've got. "The Legendary Warrior of Fire dashed forward, sword raised. "_Pyro Dragons!_" He swung his blade, letting several dragons of white fire at the Megidramon. While this attack was quicker to do then its normal version, it wasn't as strong.

"_Dragon Howling!_" The dragons exploded as they connected with the sound waves of the attack.

"Here I come!" EmperorGreymon soared through the smoke as a flame dragon himself, colliding with the massive dragon Digimon. It groaned in pain as it reeled back. "MagnaGarurumon, now!" EmperorGreymon jumped back.

"_Feral Fire!_" Missiles and light attacks of all kinds rained from MagnaGarurumon, slamming into Megidramon before he was able to fully recover from the Pyro Dragon attack. The attack left the area covered in smoke and uncertainty.

"Did that get him?" The Fire Digimon questioned. An arm quickly lashed out of the smoke, grabbing him and answering his question. Gah!

"EmperorGreymon" MagnaGarurumon yelled as he dashed forward, dropping his armor once again. "_Starburst Hunter!_" The Warrior of Light became cloaked in his element as it slashed through Megidramon's wrist, freeing his partner. In a fit of fury and pain, the Mega Level Dragon swiped, using his still existing hand, slashing MagnaGarurumon moments after his attack ended, sending the Hybrid Digimon crashing to the ground.

"_Dragonfire Crossbow!_" An arrow of fire prevented Megidramon from continuing his assault on MagnaGarurumon, for the time being, as Takuya flew over to where Koji landed. It was near the other Chosen Ones, whom he could see grouped around the crater. "MagnaGarurumon, are you okay!?"

"Y-Yeah..." That voice wasn't really MagnaGarurumon's though, it was that of the human who becomes him; Koji Minamoto.

"Damn..." He turned to look at Megidramon. "_Dragonfire Crossbow!_" He sent another fire arrow at the dragon Digimon in hopes of keeping it occupied. What are we going to do now...?"

"Me and Koichi have our Spirits back, we can help!" J.P. was quick to remind Takuya.

"No. You two aren't strong enough, not right now" Something in the goggle boy's head clicked as he turned his head to look at them before dashing forward. "Actually, give me some cover fire. I've got a plan, wish me luck guys!"

"Takuya, don't do anything stupid!" He heard Zoe call after him, she always had a knack for realizing when he had a rather dangerous plan in mind. And this plan was _far_ more than dangerous. He didn't like it but it was honestly all he had.

_Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!_

They both cried out as they summoned fourth their Fractal Codes, and then ran their D-Tectors across them.

"_MetalKabuterimon!_"

"_JagerLoweemon!_"

"_Megiddo Flame!_" Apparently tired of their stalling, Megidramon sent several balls of fire at EmperorGreymon.

"_Electron Cannon!_"

"_Ebony Blast!_" The two Legendary Warrior s attacks with the Mega Level's attack, exploding.

"_Ryugonken!_" Takuya yelled as he burst through the explosion, stabbing his blade into Megidramon's chest, right in the middle of its Digital Hazard. "_Dragonfire Crossbow!_" The dragon wailed in pain as it brought its claw to its chest, stabbing EmperorGreymon.

"_Dragonfire Crossbow!_"

"_Dragonfire Crossbow!_"

"_Dragonfire Crossbow!_" EmperorGreymon fought through the pain, continuing his rain of attacks with his sword still in Megidramon's chest until finally, the wild Digimon stopped. Its claw fell out of EmperorGreymon s back as its arms fell to its side. D-Did I do it? He stuttered; on the ground, Koji's eyes went wide.

"Takuya, get out of there!" The Digital Hazard on Megidramon s chest had begun to glow with a red light.

"Huh? What's tha-" EmperorGreymon was cut off as Megidramon exploded in a red light. JagerLoweemon and MetalKabuterimon put all their effort in making sure the non-Digimon Chosen Ones weren't sucked into it. The explosion expanded out, and thinned, in one quick motion before it was gone. In its place was nothing but air.

"...Takuya...!"

_/Execute:_

Takuya, yes the human, looked up into nothingness as he float about in, well, nothing. That's all that was around him, blackness; he was half sure that his eyes were just closed. He couldn't feel a thing until, that is, he suddenly could. With a splash, he was covered in what he thought was water. Maybe a river, or an ocean, but neither of those things were near the battleground. And it certainly didn't feel like water. Well, it did but... he couldn't place the feeling; something didn't seem right. This water was cold but in a different way, a chilling way. Whatever it was, Takuya didn't have the strength to swim out of it and what little strength he did have was slowly slipping away. Almost as if the water was draining him. He didn't have any more time to think about such things, however, as unconsciousness took him.

_/Execute:_

Two years of peace was exactly what the world needed after MaloMyotismon. And while it was hard, the DigiDestined of the world had managed to, once again, return the existence of Digimon to being a well-kept secret; mostly be referring to how the previous reveal, their fight with Apocalymon, had been treated as a massive hoax. And gradually, things returned to normal but really, the most important thing was that it was currently summer! And how Kari had, literally, the entire vacation mapped out, visits to the Digital World included.

In fact, that's where they were now, on a picnic. Her, her brother and Davis, who'd caught them on their way out and practically begged to come. It wasn't that much trouble, Kari had made extra. Granted, she was never sure just how much Agumon would eat but it looked like they had enough. Gatomon was never one for picnics anyway.

She looked at the two boys sitting in front of her; they were talking about soccer, and giggled. It was nice, you know. Just going and having fun in the Digital World. No running from some evil Digimon, no saving the world, none of that; just peace and relaxation with friends. They did it a lot now-a-days but every time felt like something new for Kari. Though, sometimes, she couldn't help but think about when this would stop. When the new big threat, or even another old one god forbid, would show its face and they'd be forced to once again take up their mantle as DigiDestined, the Digital World's protectors.

"Kari?" She heard her partner whisper, having perched herself on the girl's shoulder when she wasn't paying attention

"Ah, Gatomon, sorry!" She turned her head to look at the white cat. "I got lost daydreaming, I guess." She giggled but when she noticed that Gatomon had a serious expression, she stopped. "What s wrong?"

"Can't you hear it?" She asked, causing Kari to pause.

"Hear wha-"  
><em>Help me.<em>  
>Kari gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. "What was that...?"<p>

"Not sure. Veemon and Agumon couldn't hear it." She grimaced. "And since those two aren't reacting, I don't think they can either." And then she smiled. "I'm just happy you can. I thought I was going crazy for a minute." Kari smiled at her cat companion before a question sprang from her lips.

"But why...?"

_Help me._

"_Okay, there s no time for that._" Kari thought. "_I'll ask questions afterwards._" She stood up. "Um. Tai, I uh, have to go to the bathroom." She blushed, she honestly couldn't think of a better excuse.

"Oh, okay. Just don t stray too far." Tai chuckled at her obvious embarrassment, and burst into a full blown laugh when he saw how embarrassed Davis was. "You should see your faces!"

"Hey now!" Davis mumbled. "T-That's not fair..." Kari heard Tai start laughing again as she wandered off into the forest.

"Do you smell anything, Gatomon?"

"Nothing. Well... actually..." the Digimon paused before her eyes opened wide.

"Gatomon?"

"Kari, run!" The cat Digimon turned her head towards her partner, a look of fear spread across which convinced Kari a lot more than it had any right to. She immediately turned tail and ran back in the direction of Tai and Davis.

"Gatomon! What did you smell!?" Kari almost yelled but with the fear that spread across Gatomon's face, she already had an idea.

"It's the same thing I smelled when you disappeared in the Dark Ocean." Just hearing the name of that place almost made Kari stop, the only reason she didn't was because she realized that that's what they were running from.

"But how...?" She tried to make sense of it in her head.

_Help me._

She stopped running.

"Kari...?' Gatomon stared at her.

"We can't run, Gatomon. Whoever that is sounds like he's in pain and..." She paused. "I couldn't forgive myself if I ran away in his time of need, especially if I'm leaving him _there_." She said there with more venom than her partner had ever heard her mutter before, it didn't suit her really.

"...You're right. But we should get the others first, at least Tai and Davis. It'll be better to go with a group." Kari nodded then started running towards them again. They hadn't walked off too far so they would've reached them soon; would've being the key word. Kari tripped, tumbling over and knocking Gatomon off her shoulder. Gatomon tumbled for only a moment before getting back up.

"Kari, are you oka-?" She stopped as the girl she was on not 30 seconds ago had vanished.

_/Execute:_

"Gatomon..." Kari muttered as she raised her head, she had landed on all four. She wouldn't have panicked about her partner not being in sight had it not been for the familiar dark sand that now spread around her. She quickly looked around herself, nothing but sand as far as she could see, as usual. But she could hear the ocean behind her.

_HELP ME._

It was louder now, and it reminded her that there was a reason she was here. That reason was enough to allow her to stuff her panic down; she had a mission to accomplish. She picked herself up, dusted herself off and turned herself to the water. She scanned the ocean line before choosing to head to the right and walking along. As always, she felt something watching her but just like her panic, she was about to keep her fear down. "_Just find whoever this is and get out._" She kept repeating in her head, forgetting that she had no clue how to leave. The only time she stopped repeating that phrase was when she found the boy, barely on the shore face up. He had brown hair which was rather spiky and wild, but nowhere near as wild as her brother's, and a pair of goggles around his neck, she would've gotten a chuckle from their similar headgear if the situation had been less dire.

She quickly made her way towards him, pulling him completely from the water. She put her head to his chest, checking to see if he was still breathing and, surprisingly, he was. Perfectly. She felt too much relief to question how he'd been in the Dark Ocean for god knows how long yet managed to still be breathing fine. Then came the hard part, figuring out how to carry him; he was far too heavy for her to simply pick up. Though let it not be said that she was a girl who gave up. After a bit of trouble, she managed to get him on her back. His arms went over her shoulders and she held up his legs.

"Man, you owe me one after this." She giggled as she walked forward, already stumbling from the weight. It was going to be a long walk to wherever they were going. Anywhere was better than here. She walked as far as she could, which was admittedly only a couple feet away, before stopping. "Okay there has to be a better way..." She sighed.

"_So you have returned to our master?_" A voice, no multiple voices, came from behind Kari. She quickly, well as fast as she could, turned around to once again face the ocean. Those shadowy Digimon she d seen before, the not Scubamon, began to walk upon the sand from the water. "_How surprising._"

"I did not come for your master." Kari frowned as she backed up. "I came here for him." The Scubamon looked between each other, then back at Kari.

"_What is a human doing here? Our master did not summon him._" Now that confused Kari. How else could this boy have gotten here?

"Oh be quiet, you can't trick me!" She said after a while. She took another step back.

"_It matters not. You must come with us! Our master has been restless since the last time you left!_" The Scubamon came closer to her. "_We must not disappoint him again!_"

"Stay back!" She yelled, taking a few more steps back. The Scubamon walked closer. "Gatomon..." She whispered. "_Help me._" She thought to herself. A light began to shine brightly from her side, the Scubamon stepped back. Gatomon! She cried with happiness, thinking that it was her Digivice. She then noticed that the boy had begun to stir; he moved his arms and pushed off of her back. "Wait-" She began.

_Execute: Spirit Evolution!_

Kari was quick to turn around, confused. A ball of light had appeared from nowhere, right behind her, where the boy should ve been. She quickly grabbed her D-3 from her pocket and looked even more confused over the fact that its screen was shining as she thought it was. The ball of light began to fade, however, lines of some kind of code peeled away to reveal a Digimon, one she had never seen before.

"Agunimon!" It yelled out, fire coming out from between its armor pieces.

"Agunimon?" She raised an eyebrow, I'm not even sure it's possible to be more confused than she is right now.

"Stand back!" He yelled, stepping in front of her and putting his arm up. The Scubamon looked amused, if anything.

"A_ human becoming a Digimon! Ha!_"

"_Pyro Punch!_" Agunimon cried out as he sent a fiery fist into one of the Scubamon's faces, the attack instantly deleted it.

"_Ai!_" One of them screamed. "_Surround him!_" The rest of the Scubamon wrapped around Agunimon, having forgotten about Kari for the time being. Agunimon only smirked.

"_Pyro Tornado!_" He spun around and created a tornado of fire. His leg stuck out from within, striking each of the Scubamon and deleting them. By the time he stopped he attack, all that remained of the would-be attackers was black bits that drifted into the ocean. Taking in his job well done, Agunimon turned towards Kari.

"A-Are you okay...?" That was the only thing Kari found herself able to say. The fire Digimon began to nod before the sphere of light surrounded him again. When it faded this time, however, it revealed the boy, who promptly fell against the sand, unconscious once more. Kari walked over to him and went down to her knees, to examine him again, taking note of the device now in his hand. "A Digivice... And not one I have ever seen..." She grabbed his hand, taking hold of this new Digivice. Suddenly, its screen shone bright, wrapping around both of them in another sphere of light.

_Thank you._

When _that_ light faded, Kari found herself once again in the Digital World. She quickly looked around, noting that she was exactly where she'd been before she tripped.

"Kari!" She heard someone yell. It took only a moment for her to recognize the voice.

"Tai!" She called back. "Come quick!" The speed at which he found here was legendary. He quickly went onto his knees and hugged his sister.

"Kari, where did you go, I was so worried!" He rambled on. "Gatomon came back without you... and said something about the Dark Ocean." He pulled away.

"I'll explain everything." She assured her older brother. "But, right now." Her eyes drifted to the boy she had just saved, though he ended up doing the most saving, from the Dark Ocean.

"Who's that?" Tai finally noticed the boy.

"I-I'm not sure but..." She looked back to her brother. "I think he's a new DigiDestined."

_/Execute: _Ending Phase:「Egao no Mahou」

**Begin: **Omake

Takuya: Well, that was certainly... interesting. .

Kari: Are you upset that you got knocked out so early on in the story?

Takuya: Of course not! Why would I be, I mean, it's not like I was beaten or anything. Just... overwhelmed.

Kari: There's a difference?

Takuya: In this situation, yeah!

Kari: Right, I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we're here for a reason right now!

Takuya: Is that so?

Kari: Don't tell me you forgot. Man, Takuya...

Takuya: Sorry. A reminder would be nice though.

Kari: shadriver does not own Digimon in any way, shape or form.

Takuya: Oh, right. The disclaimer! I knew that.

Kari: ...What am I going to do with you...


	2. New Friends, Alternate Universes?

_For future reference, update's will probably **not **be this frequent. The first chapter's been done, and put on Ao3, for a while now so I figured that, since this is done, I should just put it up to align the two sites update plans._

_And I also noticed one instance, in the previous chapter, where I referred to the Scubamon as Divermon. That's fixed, hopefully I didn't miss anything. This is the first story I've tried to write in a while, you see. _

_That said, I'm rather surprised that I managed to get some reviews so soon so thanks for that! (PS, Sightbent, you are the one who got me started on this ship in the first place so thanks for that too!) You guys are great and it's serving as a good motivation to keep going! I think I'll put up a chapter each week, unless otherwise stated. Yeah, that sounds manageable. _

_/Execute: _Opening Phase: 「New World」

**Chapter 2: **New Friends, Alternate Universes?

Kari looked over the boy again. He was resting on their couch, in their living room. The two were quick to explain how the boy was involved in 'Digimon matters,' as they'd started to call them, and how they'd inform them of the details when they could. Although it answered none of their questions, the Kamiya's parents accepted their explanation, if only for now. That being said, the other members of the ruined picnic were settled in the kitchen, around the table, talking about Takuya and his rather… strange circumstances. It took even longer for them to convince their parents to leave while they figured out what to do; they needed to go grocery shopping anyways so it wasn't that hard.

"This is a weird looking Digivice." Davis said from the kitchen, moving the small device from between his hands.

"Well yeah. I thought the same thing about your Digivices when I first saw them." Tai chuckled. "New models tend to be like that."

"I still think you're just jealous that our Digivices look cooler!" Davis held out his D-3, proudly.

"Mmmm. Nah, that can't be it." Tai shrugged, grabbing Takuya's Digivice from Davis. "If anything, this thing looks cooler. A lot more high-tech, at least. I should probably call Izzy."

"Ah! No no no, then we'll probably never see it again!" Davis slammed his hands on the table.

"Don't you think you're overreacting, Davis?" Veemon laughed.

"No way! You know how Izzy is about stuff like this!"

"I hate to admit it but he has a point." Tai looked at the D-Tector again, before looking over at his sister. "Any changes, Kari?"

"Afraid not. He's still asleep…" She sighed as she got up and sat across from Tai at the table. "I wonder what happened to him…"

"Yeah, me too." Tai paused. "What did you say happened in the Dark Ocean again? That he turned into a Digimon?"

"I, for one, still think that you were just seeing things." Davis mused. "I mean the Dark Ocean messes with your head, right?"

"No, I'm sure that's what happened!" Kari gave him the look, causing Davis to sink into his seat a bit. Gatomon popped onto her shoulder.

"I believe her." She nodded. "It sounds weird but then, a lot of weird things have turned out to be true before."

"Mmmm…" Tai looked at the device again. "A Digivice that turns people into Digimon…" Davis crossed his arms.

"Oh come on, you believe this too, Tai?"

"Well yeah. It doesn't sound like Kari was hallucinating or anything and something _had_ to have beaten those Scubamon or else she wouldn't be here." He leaned back in his chair. "Adding in that we have no idea what this Digivice is or what it can do. Anything's possible." He stared at the device in deep thought.

"Well when you put it like that…" There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Kari got up and went to the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, TK!" Kari opened the door.

"Hey, TK, what brings you here?" He grabbed a hold of Kari's shoulder.

"Did something happen today?" There was something in his eyes that showed fear, Kari could tell.

"Yeah… I went to _that place_ again… But I managed to get out and…" She turned towards the couch. "Well, let me show you." She walked him over to where the boy slept. "I found him there."

"Do you know who he is?"

"No but he's a DigiDestined. I found his Digivice; Tai has it. It's a new model." Kari turned to face him. "But how did you know something happened?"

"I got… a bad feeling. My Digivice started acting weird and I got the chills, just like the last time."

"Hey, my Digivice was acting weird too!" Davis got up. "Right before Gatomon found us, the screen started shining and making weird noises. I think I felt chills too…"

"But why would that be?" Tai asked.

"Maybe it was because we all opened that portal two years ago, when we trapped Daemon there." TK recalled the fight. "Maybe that linked us all there…"

"That sounds pretty bad." Davis sat back down.

"Or it's really good. Now we can monitor if something tries to get to our world from there!" TK slammed his fist into his hand. He turned his head and looked at Kari, who was looking around him. "What's up?"

"Where's Patamon?"

"Oh, I left him at home. He was taking a nap." He rubbed his hand behind his head. "In hindsight, I probably should've woke him up and brought him." Kari giggled. "But what did you say about his Digivice? It's another new model?"

"Yeah! And apparently, it looks cooler than our D-3's!" Davis crossed his arms and shot a glare at Tai, who only gave a shaky smile and a shrug.

"Haha." TK walked over to the table. "Let me see it." Tai handed the gadget over. "Whoa, this _is_ pretty cool looking." He looked it over.

"Aaaah, not you too! Everyone's against me today!" The young goggle head ran his hands through his hair,

"Ah don't worry, buddy. I'm on your side." Veemon laughed.

"Thanks a lot, Veemon…"

"Is the guy okay?" TK asked to everyone at the table.

"Yeah. I looked him over; he doesn't even have any scratches or anything." Tai paused. "Then again, I'm no Joe. We're actually waiting on him right now; I left him a voice message a few minutes ago." TK nodded.

"Well, I should probably get back to Patamon before he wakes up and worries himself to death over why I'm gone. Keep me updated, okay?" TK handed the D-Tector back to Tai as he held up his D-Terminal.

"Got'cha! I'll send you a message if something comes up." He smiled.

"Thanks. I'll let myself out." TK gave them all a wave as he left the apartment.

"Ah!" Davis almost jumped out of his chair mere moments later. "I just remembered that my mom told me to clean my room before she gets home!"

"Woooooow. I can't believe-" Tai started.

"No time! Come on, Veemon! We gotta go!" Davis ran towards the door. "See you guys tomorrow!" He smiled before closing the door behind them. There was silence for a couple moments before something fell over on the other end of the door, following by a couple groans and an "Oh come on, Davis!" and a "Sorry TK." Both Tai and Kari laughed. Their laughter, however, was halted when they heard someone's stomach grumble.

"Ah, Tai. If you're hungry, we could go out to eat today." Kari turned to her brother. "If we go out before mom gets back, we'll get to skip one of her 'health experiments.'"

"But Kari…! That wasn't me!" The older boy seemed a bit unsure and touched his stomach.

"What? Then who…?" Kari stood up and headed into the living room, then gasped. "Kari?"

"He's awake!" The elder Kamiya bolted up, coming up behind her.

"Um. Hey." The boy, now sitting up, gave a slow wave. "Not to be a burden or anything but…" His stomach grumbled again. "Can I get something to eat?" They both hit the floor.

_/Execute:_

"So what's your name?" Tai asked as the boy dug into a sandwich.

"Takuya. Takuya Kanbara, pleasure to meet you!" He smiled after swallowing. "Who are you guys, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm Kari Kamiya, and this is my brother Tai." Kari answered for him. "And this is my partner, Gatomon. Tai has a partner too but he's in the Digital World." She gestured to the white cat that sat at the table with them.

"Partners?" He tilted his head to the side. "Like, you teamed up with Digimon?"

"Yeah, pretty much!" She smiled. "We've been friends for years now. You don't have a partner, do you?"

"Nope." Takuya finished off his sandwich before continuing. "I can turn into a Digimon."

"Ah, so Kari really wasn't hallucinating." Tai said slowly as the aforementioned girl elbowed him.

"I can't believe you still didn't believe me, Tai." Kari giggled while Tai playfully shrugged. Takuya grabbed his D-Tector from his pocket to show them, or at least he would've if it was still in there.

"Hold on." He checked his other one. "Where's my D-Tector!?" He started frantically checking the other pockets on his shorts, and his jacket too.

"Ah, sorry, we have it." Tai handed it over to him as Takuya gave a sigh of relief. "And it's called a D-Tector?"

"So… how does the whole 'turn into a Digimon' thing work, huh?" Tai asked, curiosity dripping from his voice.

"Simple!" He lifted up his D-Tector and flicked his wrist, summoning his Fractal Code. "I just scan my Fractal Code with my D-Tector. I guess it's like… putting a layer of Digimon code over my human one."

"Fractal Code…?" Kari cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah. The stuff everything in the Digital World's made of. It's like a condensed form of data, I think." He tapped his chin. "How do you guys not know about Fractal Code?" He paused. "Actually. How do you guys know about the Digital World at all? Lady Ophanimon would've told us if she brought other kids."

"Well, we've been going to the Digital World for years now and haven't heard of anything like that."

"Yeah, I haven't either." Gatomon added. "And I definitely haven't heard of a Lady Ophanimon."

"But that's…" He returned the device to his pocket. "Hey, you guys have Digivices too, right? Can I see them?"

"Mhm." Kari pulled out her own as Tai pulled out his. Takuya leaned over the table.

"These aren't anything like mine. And they're different from each other!"

"Well, Kari used to have a Digivice like mine; I guess we'll call it a first generation Digivice, but then it turned into that one, a second generation Digivice. We also call it a D-3." Tai explained while Takuya nodded.

"But things still don't add up. Lady Ophanimon never told us about other Chosen Ones, especially not ones who teamed up with Digimon." Something clicked in Takuya's head. "Wait a minute… Where am I?" The siblings could only manage nervous smiles as they exchanged glances.

"You're in Odaiba."

"Odaiba!? How'd I get here!?" Takuya panicked. "The last thing I remember is… is…" He gripped his head. "Why… can't I remember…? I know me and the others got called to the Digital World again but…" Kari put a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, it might just be because you were unconscious for a while. Give it time."

"Yeah, right." He calmed down a bit, sighing.

"So tell us about yourself, Takuya. And what you do remember." Tai leaned forward. Kari found herself doing the same, far more curious than she'd let on. Takuya began to explain his first adventure to the two, from finding the underground part of the Shibuya station to defeating Lucemon as Susanoomon. He then went into how Lady Ophanimon had called them all back to the Digital World, because some monstrous Digimon had started causing major damage. The last thing he could remember was getting into the Trailmon. Once he'd finished, Tai whistled.

"Maaan, that sounds awesome. But…"

"That doesn't sound like the Digital World." Kari finished for him.

"Huh? How so…?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. The siblings then began telling him about their adventures in the Digital World, Tai being the only storyteller in the beginning since Kari wasn't around then. But eventually, they ended with their final battle with MaloMyotismon.

"Yeah… that does sound different…" Takuya sounded unsure. "And you guys say you don't have Fractal Code so…" You could practically see the steam rise from his ears as he struggled to understand the implications that this gave.

"Are you okay?" Kari asked him.

"Yeah, I think." He sighed. "I don't know. Everything's weird. I don't feel like you guys are lying, and I know I'm not lying, so what's the deal?" The trio sat in silence.

"Maybe you're from an alternate universe?" The other two looked at Tai with confused, maybe even shocked, expressions.

"Alternate… universe…?"

"Yeah. Like, we already know that there are different worlds." He started. "So it shouldn't be weird to think that there are different universes too; with their own Earths and their own Digital Worlds." Takuya thought to himself for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He then ran his hands through his hair. "But how I am supposed to get back?" The siblings could only shrug. "That's not helping!"

"You can stay with us until we figure something out." Kari suggested. Tai raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to Takuya.

"If our parents agree, then sure." Tai leaned back in his chair.

"Worst case, I guess I could camp in the Digital World." Takuya suggested. "I've done the same in the past."

"Heheh, I might join you sometime, in that case." Tai put his hands behind his head and smiled. "That'd take me back." Then the phone rang. "Ah, let me get that. It's probably Joe." Tai stood up and went over to the phone.

"Joe?" Takuya looked at Kari.

"Another DigiDestined. He's training to be a doctor. Tai called him when we brought you here, to check on you."

"Ah. Thanks!" Takuya smiled.

"No problem." Kari smiled back. Tai sat back down at the table.

"Joe said he'll be here in a few."

"Alright. I feel pretty fine though." Takuya looked himself over.

"Better to be safe than sorry~" Kari sung.

"Ah, true." Takuya agreed.

"Oh! That reminds me, we should tell Davis and TK that you're awake!" Kari pulled out her D-Terminal and began typing on it.

"More DigiDestined?" Takuya looked over to Tai, who nodded. "Oh. And what's that thing?"

"It's called a D-Terminal. It's like a cell phone but text only. It's the communication tool for the DigiDestined."

"Wow. I wish we had those in my world." Takuya commented, with a laugh. "Mmmm. I wonder how many years it'd take us to make one… Hey, what year is it here?"

"Huh? Oh. 2005"

"So… here, it's 2005…?" Takuya sighed. "There are time differences between universes. Makes sense since the same applies for worlds, I guess." The Kamiya siblings nodded as Takuya looked around their apartment again. "Maaan, this is pretty lame for 2005. I was kind of expecting more than this, this all looks pretty similar to what we've got!" Takuya joked.

"Trust me, Takuya. You weren't the only one." Tai laughed.

"Wait, so how old are you, Takuya?" Kari asked.

"16."

"I'm 17, and Kari's 14."

"Heading to college soon, eh?" Takuya looked genuinely curious.

"Yeeep. Still a little iffy on where I'm going but as long as it's got a good soccer team, I'm a-okay!"

"Ah! You play soccer!?" Takuya smiled while Kari only rolled her eyes.

"_Not another one…_"

"Of course! You do too?"

"All the time."

"We should play sometime; we could get Davis and Ken in it too."

"That'd be great! I'm feeling more at home already…" Takuya was silent after that. "Yeah…" He leaned his head against his hand.

"Takuya?" Kari raised an eyebrow; he was so excited not a minute ago.

"I'm just wondering what my family's doing right now." He told them. "I said I'd be home soon but… yeah…"

"No worries. We'll get you home as soon as possible!" Tai assured him. "And in the meantime, we'll make you feel welcome." Takuya managed a smile.

"Thanks guys."

"Tai, Kari, we're home!" Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya walked into the apartment, each one carrying their share of bags. "And it seems our guest has awoken!" Mrs. Kamiya exclaimed.

"Oh. Hello ma'am." Takuya bowed.

"And polite too!" Mrs. Kamiya placed her bags on the kitchen floor then went over and poked Kari with her elbow. "Seems about your age too, eh~?"

"M-Mom!" Kari blushed.

"Oh boy…" Tai hid his face behind his hands.

"Excuse me!? My daughter is far too young for any of that!" Mr. Kamiya spoke up, throwing a glare Takuya's way.

"W-Wait, hold on…" Takuya put his hands up defensively.

"Mom, dad, please…" Tai pulled down his hands. "He's a DigiDestined who's a little… lost. The guy just needs a place to stay for today, at the least."

"Well, the balcony's open…" Mr. Kamiya began but upon catching his daughter's glare, quickly stuttered out, "and the couch is too."

"That sounds like a plan." Takuya grinned. "And thank you for this, I appreciate it!" He bowed again.

"Yeah, don't mention it, kid."

_/Execute:_

They sat around until Joe showed up, who took Takuya into the bedroom to get a better look at him. Kari went and sat down on the now vacant couch, sighing.

"What's on your mind, Kari?" You'd think she would be used to Gatomon appearing out of nowhere by now but she never was. Well, at least she could play it off now.

"Takuya seemed so sad when he talked about his family…" She looked down at her partner. "I'm just wondering what'll happen if we can't figure out a way to send him back."

"Kari, you burden yourself with too much, you know?" Gatomon sighed as she got herself comfortable on the couch. "I'm sure we will soon. Something had to bring him here so something has to be able to send him back."

"Yeah, you tell me all the time Gatomon." Kari smiled. "But what could've brought him here…? He said he couldn't remember… And to appear in… that place." She avoided saying Dark Ocean, the very thought usually sent chills down her spine.

"Well, he checks out fine!" Joe announced as he walked out of their bedroom. "I couldn't find a single thing wrong with him. Maybe you passed out from exhaustion?" Takuya only shrugged.

"Maybe. I don't remember what happened that knocked me out."

"Mmmm." Joe thought to himself. "I'll be going then. I have a lot to study up on, if anything comes up, you know where to find me." He smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright and thanks again, Joe." Tai smiled back at him as he showed him out. Takuya flopped down next to Gatomon and yawned. It reminded Kari that it was actually getting pretty late, she yawned too.

"Whoops, forgot that those are contagious, sorry." Takuya laughed.

"It's okay. It's pretty late anyway, I should get to bed." She walked over to the calendar first. "We're heading to the Digital World again, tomorrow. I'll introduce you to some of the other DigiDestined then, okay?" She turned her head to Takuya.

"Alright." He leaned and started to lie down; Gatomon quickly scuffled off the couch.

"Hey, watch where you're lying around here!" She yelled at him.

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't notice you there!" Takuya threw up his hands.

"Yeah well don't let it happen again otherwise I might just use your face as a scratching post…" Gatomon walked off.

"Ouch. She's cold." Kari laughed.

"She'll warm up, eventually." She assured him. "Oh. That reminds me; I never thanked you for saving me."

"I saved you?" Takuya looked at her strangely. "I'm pretty sure you're the one who found me."

"Yeah but I wouldn't have been able to get you out of there. A couple Scubamon cornered us. You turned into… um, I think you said Agunimon and fought them off." She nodded as she recollected the events of earlier today.

"Wow really? I don't remember that, for some reason." He tapped his head. "Maan, I can't remember a thing today!"

"It's okay. Even if you don't remember, you still did it." She smiled at him before turning to Tai. "Hey, Tai, I'm heading to bed."

"Yeah, it's pretty late. I should probably get some rest too." Tai turned to Takuya. "There are some covers in the closet over there if you somehow get cold and don't eat anything in the fridge. Mom might've tried to start a cooking experiment." He shuddered at the thought.

"Tai, I can hear you in there!" his mother called from the parent's bedroom.

"Sorry, mom!" Tai yelled back, smiling. "Anyways, if you need us for anything, I'm bottom bunk, Kari's top bunk. Try not to wake up the other if you need one of us. That should be about it."

"Got'cha. Night you two." Takuya gave them a wave as they entered their shared room. When the door closed, Takuya walked over and turned off the light, putting his jacket on the coat rack while he was at it, before going back and lying down on the couch. He stared up at the ceiling; he was finally able to take in everything. "What happened…? And why can't I remember anything?" He questioned himself over and over before sleep finally overtook him.

_/Execute: _Ending Phase: 「Egao no Mahou」

**Begin: **Omake

Takuya: Well that was certainly mysterious.

Kari: Yeah, you can't remember your fight with Megidramon!

Takuya: You'd think a guy that big would leave an impression, you know?

Kari: I wonder what happened to him...

Takuya: Do you think he was brought to your universe with me...?

Kari: I don't know, that thought sounds pretty scary.

Takuya: Yeah, EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon were just barely able to beat him. If you could call that a victory.

Kari: You can't become EmperorGreymon anymore, can you?

Takuya: ...That's a good question. Did my Spirits return to Zoe and Tommy or not?


	3. Settling In

_Woot, woot. Chapter 3 is a gogo. __Sorry, I don't have much to say here this time around so I decided the excited approach was the best. ^^; Fun fact: This wasn't originally the third chapter, I have the original one pretty much done but I decided that there should be some more, eh, fluff before the action starts. Just to get a feel for characters and how they react to each other, you know. With that in mind, this chapter's a little on the short side because of what I said before, and mostly because a lot of stuff has come up. I really don't want to go into details about it but if I miss a week or two, it probably has something to do with that. _

_That being said, I actually am very excited. All the feedback I've gotten so far as told me that I'm going in a good direction, and I like the direction I'm going too. This is a breakthrough, I'm telling you! And if I **do** miss updates, I'll try to put multiple chapters into one week. Anyways, I thought I'd share a little Digimon related anecdote here._

_For a long time, I wasn't really apart of the Digimon fandom anymore. It started when Savers came out and I, for lack of a better term, was completely turned off from the series because of Marcus. There's nothing wrong with his character, IMO, but just the concept of punching multi-story monsters seemed… wrong? And I didn't return to the series for years afterwards, the occasional fanfiction here or there was the most contact I had. But when 'Digimon Adventure 03' was announced, it sort of reignited my love for the series (that and I realized it was sorta dumb to hate Savers for that sole part). Since I hadn't watched Xros Wars, or the latter half of Savers, I decided to start at the newest season and work my way back. I finished Xros Wars about two month ago and absolutely loved it; Taiki's a strong contender for my favorite Goggle boy. I finished Savers last month and I really liked it too, Marcus punching Digimon aside, I really liked how it went back to the standard Digivolution formula but added new twists, I especially liked how the main villain was a human. Not even a brainwashed human but an, honest to god, bad person. It was interesting._

_But that got me really excited because now I was on Frontier, my favorite season. I blew through that in a week. ^^;_

_It's what inspired me to write this story right now, actually. But yeah, that's the whole thing, how I got back into the Digimon franchise. I think I'll just get to the actual chapter now._

_/Execute: _Opening Phase: 「New World」

**Chapter 3: **Settling In

The next day, Tai sat in a park with Kari. They were waiting for the other DigiDestined to show; Tai had called them together for a 'secret meeting.' Of course, Takuya was part of the reason but the other one was, arguably, a bit more important. He also wanted to discuss Kari's run in with the Dark Ocean as well as the D-3's newfound ability to track the world's attempts to exit into other worlds.

It took about an hour for everyone, other than Davis, to show. But Tai had expected that, and since Davis already knew about Takuya, he figured that he could start without him. He sat on the back part of a bench while Kari sat next to him, like a normal person, on the seat. TK sat on a bench across from them while Matt and Sora had aligned themselves on the jungle gym. Izzy sat on the ground, laptop on his lap and apparently deep in thought, Yolei sat next to him and glanced at what he was doing every now and then while Ken sat on the side opposite of her. Joe couldn't make it, something about studying for a test.

"Hey Izzy, I think you should start taking notes." Tai turned to the Bearer of Knowledge, who was busy working on a program. "Just a heads up." The red head nodded at him slowly.

"Just get on with it, Tai," Matt sighed with a bit of frustration in his voice, he'd had to leave band practice early for this.

"Well… How should I put this…?" He looked around. It took the group a couple seconds to realize that Tai had gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Tai…!" Sora began.

"Ah! Sorry!" He jumped. "I think I'm over thinking this, how about you tell them, Kari." He gave an uneasy smile as his sister giggled.

"We have a visitor," Kari began, slowly. "And… well…"

"I can assume that they're a DigiDestined?" Izzy interrupted her, getting a nod in return. "Mmm. What's so special about them? I can tell there's something."

"He's... not from here." She didn't really know how to put it so she just let it out, "like, from another universe." Izzy's eyes widened.

"And you believe him!?" Yolei was quick to speak up as Kari shrugged.

"It was Tai's idea, that that's where he's from I mean. But it makes sense with what he's told us." She paused. "And there's just something about him that makes me think he isn't lying..." She trailed off.

"Prodigious…"

"Woah, woah." Matt put his hands up. "What? I think you should tell us exactly what happened, from the start."

"Tell us what from the start!?" Davis ran up to them all. "Sorry I'm late!" He smiled.

"Actually, you showed up just in time. We're about to go over, well, everything." Tai smirked at the boy as he took a seat next to TK. "Kari, if you would?" She nodded and began her story. About the voice only she and Gatomon could hear; how the Dark Ocean had taken her; about the boy's transformation and their eventual escape and their talk once he had awoken in their apartment.

"I see." Izzy finished typing down the story, for later review. "Where is he now?"

"Well, I was _going_ to bring him to this meeting but _someone_ didn't want to wake him up." Tai eyed his sister, who only threw up her hands innocently.

"I just suggested that we let him get some rest."

"Wait, I just want to ask something." Sora spoke up.

"Sure. What's up, Sora?" Tai turned to her.

"So you two left him alone at your apartment?" They nodded. "And if I remember right, your dad doesn't work today, right?" They nodded again; she sighed. "You two don't get where I'm going with this?" Tai's face dropped.

"Oh no…"

_/Execute:_

Takuya stretched his arms up and yawned. "Morning!" He almost shouted then looked around, noting that the apartment was quiet, almost eerily so. "…Did they have to go out…?"

"Hey, kid, keep it down in there." Takuya froze as Mr. Kamiya walked out of his bedroom. "Huh? Usually, everyone's up and about by now." He looked around.

"Yeah, uh, I think they left." Takuya played with his fingers and refused to actually look at the adult.

"No kidding?" He scratched the back of his head for a while. "Actually, this is great!"

"Huh?"

"Now I can run through some ground rules for you!" Takuya visibly paled. "Ah, don't make that face." He walked over to the young Chosen One and wrapped an arm around his neck. "This'll be fun. Think of it as a bonding experience, it'd have to happen eventually if you're going to date my daughter."

"W-Wait, hold on a min-" Takuya got interrupted.

"Now, now, you'll get a chance to talk." He pat Takuya's chest. "But I have to go first."

"_This is going to be a long day…_" Takuya sighed as he realized there was no way he could get out of this. He only hoped that Kari and Tai, wherever they were, would come back and save him.

_/Execute:_

"Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just hope he doesn't rough the boy up too much." Sora looked over to Kari. "I expected Tai to do something like that but you… Well, you are siblings." She joked.

"There's one thing that's still bothering me." Izzy looked over the document again. "You said that the D-3s can apparently track the Dark Ocean's attempts to get into another world?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Kari, did your D-3 react at all when you were pulled there?" He crossed his arms. "I don't think you mentioned it if it did." Kari thought about it for a moment then shook her head.

"No, I'm sure it didn't." Izzy stood up.

"I'm going to go home and do some research, possibly get in contact with Gennai." He paused and looked around the group. "I need someone with a D-3 to come with me. I'll run some tests on it."

"I'll go." Ken stood up. "I don't think I can do much else here, right now, anyway."

"I'll go too!" Yolei had gotten up, went over to Ken and wrapped her arm around his before he'd even noticed. Tai nodded.

"Let us know if anything comes up."

"I will. Whenever it's possible, I'd like to meet… Takuya." And with that, the three left.

"If he's going, can I go too?" Matt asked.

"Oh. Um, sure Matt. Sorry for holding you up." Tai rubbed a hand through his hair.

"It's fine. Later." He hopped off his spot at the jungle gym and began to walk off.

"See ya."

"Oh, Matt." Sora poked her head out some as he turned around.

"Yo?"

"Mom wants to know if you're still coming for dinner tonight."

"Oh yeah, of course." He smiled back before walking off.

"Maaaan." Tai threw his hands up into his hair once Matt was out of earshot.

"What's up, Tai?" Sora asked.

"I just feel like me and Matt haven't been friendly lately." He sighed. "Like, more so than usual."

"Maybe you should talk to him then?"

"Probably." He shrugged and got up. "But I'll be damned if I talk to him first."

"Our leader…" Sora sighed.

"TK, Davis, you two have been talking amongst yourselves for a while." Kari pointed out, causing both boys to jump. "What'cha talking about?"

"Uh. Nothing, you know, just guy stuff." Davis stuttered out. "Isn't that right, TK?" He jabbed the hat wearing boy in the side.

"Yeah! Guy stuff." She didn't look convinced in the slightest but let it drop; it was pretty likely that they were arguing over her again. She wasn't sure why but she was almost certain that they thought she didn't notice how much they did, it was laughable really. Especially with how loud they can get.

"Okay." She smiled. "Come on, Tai. I think we should rescue Takuya."

"Ug. He's going to hate us for this." Tai's sorrowful face made everyone laugh. His sister popped up.

"That's why we should hurry, come on!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "See you guys!" She waved with her free hand.

"Oh, yeah. Bye!" Tai managed to wave as well.

_/Execute:_

"And then he says I was talking to the duck!" Takuya laughed, as did the man sitting across from him on the recliner.

"You're kidding?"

"I wish!" He pulled his goggles over his eyes. "Didn't help since I had these things on too."

"Why'd you have your goggles on?" The man asked as Takuya paused. He looked around the room, almost mockingly before giving a wide grin and turning back to Mr. Kamiya.

"Don't tell anyone but I was actually trying to talk to the duck." The older man burst into laughter again.

"You're all right, kid!" Just then, the door opened up. Tai and Kari walked in. "Hey look, the kids are back."

"Hey guys!" Takuya waved from his seat. "You guys just missed the end of my story."

"I gotta say, he's a good kid." Mr. Kamiya stood up and pat Takuya on the back.

"Ah thanks." Takuya grinned. Tai and Kari exchanged a glance before looking at Takuya. "Is... something wrong?"

"Come with me for a minute." Tai walked over, grabbed him by the arm, and took him out of the apartment. "There, you're safe now. What did he do?"

"Um. What?"

"He threatened you, right? Don't pay any attention to it; it's just his strong dad persona." Tai pat Takuya's shoulder, who blinked several times as his brain tried to make sense of this conversation.

"I don't... what?" He shook his head. "We've just been talking for an hour or so. I mean, he wasn't threatening me or anything." He rubbed his hand against the back of his head.

"Wait, you _actually _talked with him for an hour?" Tai's face was priceless. "I can't believe it. You're the first guy friend of ours who he _hasn't _tried to rough up."

"Is that a good thing or...?"

"I honestly have no clue." Takuya wanted to press for more but the look on Tai's face assured him that the older boy truly didn't know anything more.

"Your family's weird, man." Takuya finally said.

"You're telling me," Tai grumbled. Kari popped out from the apartment.

"Are we ready to go?"

"We're leaving?" Takuya turned to her.

"Yeah. Tai and I talking about going around and showing you the town, and probably take you to see some of the other DigiDestined." She grinned; there was something else on her mind... Takuya placed both hands behind his head and smiled.

"Alright then. I'm ready when you two are!" Kari walked forward, grabbing both his and Tai's arms, and dragged them towards the exit. "Oh, talk to you later, Mr. Kamiya!" Takuya yelled loud enough for him, and probably some of their neighbors, to hear through the door.

_/Execute: _Ending Phase:「Egao no Mahou」

**Begin: **Omake

Kari: Now this sounds like fun!

Takuya: Mhm. Today's going pretty well for me, all things considered. I even got along with your dad just fine.

Tai: Yeah, that still bugs me...

Takuya: Huh!? Since when could you get in here!?

Tai: All the time...?

Kari: Yeah, Takuya. Why'd you think this blank omake space was solely for us?

Takuya: Well, um. We're the main couple for the story so...

Tai: Wait, _what!?_

Takuya: Y-You didn't know...!?

Tai: NO I DIDN'T KNOW! WHY DID NO ONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?

Kari: Brother... I think your reaction right now is reason enough.

Tai: :T

Takuya: Well, um, I hope you come to terms with this and everything...

Tai: Yeah, yeah...


End file.
